In contrast to falling or stabilising rates in older adults, the incidence of colorectal cancer in young adults (diagnosed prior to age 50 years; ‘early-onset colorectal cancer’) has increased over recent decades in many countries.1 2 In the USA and several other high-income countries, the incidence rates for early-onset colorectal cancer have risen across successive birth cohorts since the 1960s.3 This birth cohort effect suggests that secular changes in exposure to putative risk factors since this period may be driving the higher rates of colorectal cancer in younger adults. Candidate risk factors that meet this criterion include the adoption of unhealthy dietary habits, such as higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and soft drinks. In the USA, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption rose markedly for all ages between 1977 and 1996, including 70% and 83% increases for the 2–18 years old and 19–39 years old age groups, respectively.4 Previous epidemiological studies have generally found no evidence of an association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and colorectal cancer. For example, a pooled analysis of 13 prospective cohort studies that examined the association between sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drink consumption and colon cancer, reported a relative risk of 0.94 (95% CI 0.66 to 1.32) …

中文翻译：

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含糖饮料是否会导致年轻人结直肠癌的发病率上升？

与老年人的结直肠癌发病率下降或稳定相反，近几十年来，许多国家的年轻人结直肠癌（在 50 岁之前诊断；“早发性结直肠癌”）的发病率有所增加。 1 2 在美国和在其他几个高收入国家，早发性结直肠癌的发病率自 1960 年代以来在连续的出生队列中均有所上升。 3 这种出生队列效应表明，自这一时期以来，暴露于推定风险因素的长期变化可能会推动更高的发病率年轻人的结直肠癌。符合这一标准的候选风险因素包括养成不健康的饮食习惯，例如更多地饮用含糖饮料和软饮料。在美国，1977 年至 1996 年间，所有年龄段的含糖饮料消费量均显着增加，包括 2-18 岁和 19-39 岁年龄组分别增加 70% 和 83%。4 以前的流行病学研究通常没有发现含糖饮料摄入量与结直肠癌之间存在关联的证据。例如，一项对 13 项前瞻性队列研究的汇总分析报告了 0.94（95% CI 0.66 至 1.32）的相对风险，这些研究检查了含糖碳酸软饮料消费与结肠癌之间的关联……